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Utah firefighter accused of stealing drugs from fire station

Posted at 9:43 PM, Aug 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-08 10:45:36-04

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — Brenden Ivie, a part-time employee at Unified Fire Authority was arrested over the weekend for breaking into the Pleasant Grove Fire Station to steal drugs.

"When we took him into custody he had an IV catheter in his arm, inserted into his vein," said Lieutenant Britt Smith with the Pleasant Grove Police Department.

At least three times since June, drugs turned up missing.

"We knew it was somebody who had an intimate knowledge of a fire department and an ambulance," said Lt. Smith.

Police got involved when firefighters at the station in Pleasant Grove noticed narcotics were missing from their inventory.

"You don't want to think it's anybody you know, anybody you work with, anybody like that. The way it was happening, we weren't sure because it was odd times of the night," said Andrew Engemann, Deputy Chief for the Pleasant Grove Fire Department.

Ivie had worked as a high school intern at the Pleasant Grove Fire Station.

"He was a good kid. I mean got along well with the guys at work, worked hard," said Deputy Chief Engemann.

After his internship, Ivie would land a part time job with Unified Fire Authority. Upon learning of his arrest, UFA issued a statement reading:

“The Unified Fire Authority has been made aware of the allegations and possible charges against our part-time Firefighter/EMT Brenden Ivie. Mr. Ivie had been working for the UFA in a part-time capacity since January 2017 without incident. He worked at various locations in the UFA jurisdiction as a Firefighter/EMT on an ambulance, usually working anywhere from 20-100 hours per month. He last worked a shift for the UFA on July 30th, 2017. He has since been removed from all future work schedules and the UFA will be monitoring this situation closely. The UFA has not had any reported discrepancies in our narcotics tracking and inventory systems. We have safeguards in place to prevent such a situation but the UFA will be conducting an internal review as well. The UFA will cooperate where necessary but will not have further comment at this time as this is now a personnel matter. “

Ivie faces burglary and drug possession charges.